Strategic bombers

A strategic bomber, according to some, is somebody who is willing to bomb a factory or some other strategic target, but wouldn’t attempt to harm innocent people.Now, as we all know all to well, in practice, strategic and civilian targets are rarely neatly separated. “Collateral damage” ensues.

But here’s a different thought: at the point where you have decided to attack strategic targets, you’ve decided to wage some form of war against another country/society. Now, once you’ve started to wage a war against a society, distinguishing between guilty and innocent members of that society becomes tricky. This is even more true in cases where the society is in part bound together by a powerful ideology of some sort. You have to assume that any member of that society is a potential enemy.

Hence, if you want to win, you should not distinguish between civilian and strategic targets. Part of your strategy should be to hammer home to your enemies that they cannot win. If you aren’t prepared to kill you enemies’ children, don’t start a war.